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–+ servings
Butter chicken
If it’s the summer, you could cook the chicken on the BBQ
I don’t have a kitchen full of clever gadgets but there are a few items that I just couldn’t manage without.  The one that I use for this recipe is my mini food processor
If you use a lot of ginger in your cooking, I find a ginger grater invaluable.  It grates the ginger to a pulp and you get all the lovely ginger juice along with the pulp.
5 from 1 vote
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Prep Time 15 minutes
Cook Time 20 minutes
Marinating 12 hours
Course Main Course
Cuisine Indian
Servings 4 people
Calories 485 kcal
What equipment do you recommend?Check my 'Kitchen Essentials' list on Amazon!

Ingredients

  • 500 g chicken thighs, skinless and boneless cut in half

Tandoori marinade

  • 3 cm ginger peeled and roughly chopped
  • 6 cloves garlic
  • 1 green chilli
  • 3 tbsp Greek yoghurt
  • 3 tsp gram flour
  • 1 tsp paprika
  • 1/2 tsp chilli powder (I use Kashmiri)
  • 1/2 tsp garam masala
  • 1 tsp ground coriander
  • pinch ground cinnamon
  • pint saffron strands crushed
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • 2 tbsp butter melted

Butter chicken sauce

  • 30 g unsalted butter
  • 6 cardamom pods lightly crushed
  • 1 cinnamon stick
  • 4 cloves
  • 1 red onion finely chopped
  • 4 cm ginger grated
  • 3 chilli (red or green) slit lengthways
  • 1 tsp chilli powder
  • 1/2 tsp garam masala
  • 2 tbsp tomato puree
  • 200 ml passata
  • 200 ml double cream
  • 2 tsp honey
  • 1 tsp ground fenugreek
  • squeeze of lemon to taste
  • coriander leaves to garnish

Instructions
 

Marinating chicken

  • In a food processor blitz the garlic, ginger and green chilli. Add a splash of water to help turn it into a paste. Mix the yoghurt with gram flour in a bowl, it will form a thick paste consistency.
  • Add the ginger, garlic and chilli paste along with all the dry spices and saffron and stir well. Tip in the chicken pieces and stir well to make sure everything is coated and leave to marinate for a few hours or over night.

Butter chicken sauce

  • Heat a heavy bottom sauce pan, add the butter and allow to melt. Add the cardamom, cinnamon and cloves and fry for 30 seconds, add the onions and sauté for 5-7 minutes on a medium heat until they are a light brown colour.
  • Add the grated ginger and slit chillies and fry for a further minute then add the chilli powder, garam masala, passata and tomato puree. Stir well and cook for a couple of minutes. Now gradually add the double cream stirring continuously to mix all the spices with the cream. Simmer and cook for 2-3 minutes.
  • At this stage add a splash of water if the curry if too thick. Stir in the honey and ground fenugreek and season to taste. Keep warm while you cook the chicken

Cooking the chicken

  • Preheat the oven to 220C fan. Line a baking tray with foil and drizzle with vegetable oil. Spread out the marinated chicken on the tray and place in the oven for 25 minutes.
  • Add the chicken to the sauce, taste and add a squeeze of lemon if you think it needs more acidity and serve garnished with coriander and accompanied with a paratha, roti or naan to mop up all the unctuous sauce.

Nutrition

Calories: 485kcalCarbohydrates: 25gProtein: 30gFat: 31gSaturated Fat: 17gTrans Fat: 1gCholesterol: 204mgSodium: 497mgPotassium: 626mgFiber: 4gSugar: 12gVitamin A: 1235IUVitamin C: 9mgCalcium: 119mgIron: 3mg
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